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| Monday, 15 September 2003 |
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Lankan cricketers nabbed at Heathrow by Sa'adi Thawfeeq Two Sri Lankan club cricketers were nabbed at London's Heathrow airport by officers of the anti-terrorist branch when they were about to board the Sri Lankan Airlines plane to Colombo. The incident which took place on Wednesday saw one of the cricketers Manoj Hettiarachchi being remanded and the other, Bathisha de Silva escaping any punishment. They were playing league cricket for Sudbury CC in Harrow. According to London sources the officers of the anti-terrorist branch had acted on a tip off. They had been on the trail of some Sri Lankans in the UK and one of them was Batisha de Silva, whom they suspected of having being involved in terrorist activities. When the cricketers were nabbed at the airport and searched by Special Branch officers they found 22 cloned credit cards and four cheques to the value of 20,000 pounds sterling on Hettiarachchi. The two cricketers were interviewed last Thursday by Detective Sgt Fahey at Heathrow Police station. During the interview Hettiarachchi had said that De Silva had handed the credit cards to him before arriving at the airport saying that his purse was full and to give it to him in Sri Lanka. Hettiarachchi had then asked De Silva whether it was alright to carry so many cards and the reply he got was that he too had similar cards in his pocket and that he was scared because a few days earlier he had been assaulted by some criminals whom he had been associated with. Hettiarachchi had also told the Heathrow detectives that he was carrying the three signed cheques drawn from three separate English banks, for a friend in Sri Lanka. De Silva when questioned had denied any knowledge about the cards which he had handed to Hettiarachchi. According to London sources Hettiarachchi was under obligation to carry the cards and cheques because it was De Silva who had secured a position for him at the club and also found him accommodation in the UK. At the end of the interview, De Silva was released because no evidence could be found on him, but Hettiarachchi was charged with the offence of handling stolen property and intention of supplying etc. He was produced at Uxbridge Magistrate Court on Friday and remanded for trial which is expected to take at least another two months. However, London sources say that according to Special Branch Officers, although they could not pin anything on De Silva, they believe that he is behind the fraud and suspect him to be involved in terrorist activities. The cards they say are used for major fundings. A cloned credit card means that they are copied during a transaction unaware to the customer. The new cards are passed on to commit a fraud. When these cloned cards are used, an innocent party gets billed and banks lose thousand of pounds. Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL) UK committee representative Alan Wahab who is also an employee of Scotland Yard assisted the Heathrow police at the interview. De Silva (27) plays for Tamil Union in the Premier division I competition. A right-hand batsman and an off-break bowler he has been playing first-class cricket since 1995-96 and has previously played for Bloomfield, BRC and Antonian SC. He was also a Sri Lanka 'A' cricketer. Hettiarachchi (25) plays for BRC in the Premier division I tournament. A right-hand bat and wicket-keeper, he made his first-class debut for BRC in 1998-99. |
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